Coca-Cola Bottling Company opens new $35 million distribution center, warehouse in Montgomery

Coca-Cola Bottling Company dedicated its new, state-of-the-art $35 million distribution center and warehouse in Montgomery on Tuesday.

Montgomery Coca-Cola has added 63 jobs to the workforce since November 2014, and now employs 310 with an annual payroll of approximately $13 million, the company announced.

"The addition of the state-of-the art regional distribution center further enables Montgomery Coca-Cola to continue providing excellent customer service to over 4,000 customers in the in the River Region and throughout counties in central and south Alabama," the company stated in a release today.

The 855,000 square-foot facility includes: 42,000 square-foot administration space, 10,500 square-foot fleet maintenance area and a 100,000 square-foot Equipment Refurbishment Center to service over 32,000 vending machines, coolers and fountain units for 35 territories in seven southeastern states across the Coca-Cola UNITED franchise.

"What a great day this is for Montgomery Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola UNITED and for our entire community. We are certainly proud to count an organization of this caliber among our business partners," Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said in a prepared statement. "This new cutting-edge facility and the jobs it represents speak volumes about the opportunities that exist in Montgomery. We're grateful this company took advantage of those opportunities and had the vision to see that success happens when you do business here in the Capital of Dreams."

According to Montgomery Coca-Cola, the new facility located at 4919 Westport Blvd. has the capacity to warehouse over 2 million cases of approximately 675 non-alcoholic beverages.

With 51 loading docks, Montgomery Coca-Cola distributes approximately 13 million cases of non-alcoholic beverages annually in the South Alabama Division of Coca-Cola UNITED. These markets include Dothan, Evergreen, Montgomery and West Point, Ga. The Montgomery warehouse loads all delivery vehicles for the Tuscaloosa Coca-Cola territory.

The sales center serves as the administrative headquarters for the South Alabama Division in the Central Region of Coca-Cola UNITED.

Coca-Cola UNITED plans to acquire the production facility located at 300 Coca-Cola Road in Montgomery.

"Great brands and great people, coupled with our long-term commitment and presence in Montgomery allow us to deliver excellent customer service and the highest quality products to our consumers," said Claude Nielsen, Chairman of the Board, Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc. "This investment demonstrates our commitment to operating in Montgomery for another 100 years and speaks positively for the growth and favorable business climate in Central Alabama."